Air Medical Advocacy, Safety, and Workforce

Jana Williams, president and CEO of the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS), joins Mike Brown to discuss the evolving role of air medical and critical care transport. They cover AAMS’ three pillars—advocacy, collaboration, and education—highlighting current priorities: Medicare reimbursement that reflects modern clinical and aviation investments, the mental health and aviation bill, and a cost study showing underpayment. Jana explains how air medical teams act as mobile critical-access beds for rural communities, the expansion of point-of-care diagnostics, ECMO and whole blood transport, and the operational realities driving higher costs. She outlines workforce initiatives: the Flight Ready Institute (formerly the Critical Care Transport Academy), leadership schools (MTI, SMT, LIFT), and the annual Air Medical Transport Conference (MTC).